THE BLIND CHATELAINE'S KEYS

Formerly "The Blind Chatelaine's Poker Poetics". Performed from Galatea's mountain -- where nature, art, poetry and wine converge with much love -- she now goes through her keychain as if it were a rosary, unlocking doors for you. Because if Rimbaud said "I is Another," the Chatelaine shares, "Moi am all about Toi."

Saturday, February 25, 2012

HOMERUN!

Michael is much more enjoying his experience at his new school. Here he is in his spankin' new baseball hat -- he was just accepted to the JV Baseball Team! We're so happy as he'd never played baseball before, but the Coach said he improves rapidly! That's my natural-athlete son! Not to mention muy guapo, si?!

Achilles, as ever, remains a fan! I'd better go read up on baseball -- it's a sport I've ignored since the hubby introduced me to it by encouraging me to be a Red Sox fan some years back and then ... that ball rolled between that player's legs (I'm sure you rabid baseball fans know EXACTLY what I'm talking about!). I can't remember the dude's name but I'll never forget that rollercoaster emotional horrific journey -- talk about being dropped off a cliff. And now I must return to the sport because ... I'm a Mom!!

Friday, February 24, 2012

MOI CANCER-FREE MOM COACH-ES GABRIELA!

So, Coach has provided me with go-to bags over the years. I think it’s because my acquisition of my first Coach bag symbolized my then new adult independence. Plus, my first Coach bag was a black leather bag that kept getting tattered and all I had to do was send it to a Coach factory in New Jersey and they were always happy to repair it for free—I still have it today. Anyway, got a new Coach bag today and here is Gabriela trying it on:

Said bag was part of a retail celebration Mom and I embarked on this afternoon to celebrate this morning’s news: she’s now FREE OF CANCER! Wooooot! Promptly therewith, Mom decided to attempt to heal the economy with several purchases including my newest daily Coach!

But Mom didn’t just buy bags…or shoes….a watch for Michael…and various other sundries—she also purchased some poetry books for me … Which is to say, this of course was just a way to provide another update to my Recently Bought Poetry List, to wit:

FRAGILE REPLACEMENTS by William Allegrezza

HAVE by Marc Gaba

OLD WAYS TO FOLD NEW PAPER by Leza Lowitz

THE REAL SUBJECT: QUERIES AND CONJECTURES OF JACOB DELAFON WITH SAMPLE POEMS by Keith Waldrop

COLLECTED SONNETS OF EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

TRANSFER by Naomi Shihab Nye

PERSPECTIVES ON A GRAFTED TREE: THOUGHTS FOR THOSE TOUCHED BY ADOPTION, poetry anthology edited by Patricia Irwin Johnston

For my blog file, I’ll also add my poetry purchases for Kindle (though these are free from Kindle):

Thursday, February 23, 2012

SPEAKING OF BEAUTIFUL MINDS

THE BENEFITS OF WIDE READING

So I'm obviously a devotee of murder mysteries, thrillers, spy fictions, etc. But a recent read from this category, THE GOOD SON, novel by Michael Gruber, was unusual for two reasons. First, it's the first time in a long time that I can recall reading a work of fiction where the characters are both fully realized and yet one senses that it's a work of fiction, versus a believable new world, unfolding within its pages. Second, the author interspersed Urdu and Persian poetry throughout this novel, and he did the translations himself!

The author clearly has a "beautiful mind" (smart, witty, etc) and perhaps it's the discernible presence of this mind that paradoxically prevented THE GOOD SON's fictional world from moving into the realm of pure fiction with a "dead" author. Throughout, one never loses the sense that the world being described as one reads is being written. Yet the novel is still effective!

Anyway, I appreciated this book -- which also gave me somewhat of an introduction to the verses of Mirza Ghalib....and from which I took the following to be an epigraph to a poem in a new manuscript-in-progress:

I am neither the flower of song, nor the tapestry of music,

But the sound of my own breaking.

—Ghalib

Oh, I fell in love with that couplet as soon as I read it!!! This new manuscript is entitled, perhaps not surprisingly given the above epigraph, LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH.

"Love is not enough" is a phrase sometimes found in the adoption world when one is discussing failed adoptions. Most adoptions do succeed, but some don't: estimates for failed adoptions range from 1% for infant adoptions to as much as 26% if the adoptee is over 15 years of age. Well, yes, this new poetry manuscript is a ... heart-breaker.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

CORE POETICS

I’ve been doing some new exercises intended to strengthen my “core” or torso which has been weakened significantly by years of sitting in front of the computer. And so I was talking to moi new best friend, Julio, trying to divert him from doing his job of making me do 250 crunches (yeah right) and we got to talking about poetry. And so I was talking to him about experimenting with words to transcend definitions, and that the poem then would “make sense” only when an emotional reaction was elicited by the poem. Which made us (okay, me) go further into how, especially when trying to disrupt the dictionary, it’s important that the poem begin with some emotional impetus so that said impetus was an ever-present “core” to the poem. Which was when Julio, my new best friend, said, Just like your exercises! Because what many people miss out in physical training is how strengthening arms or aerobics et al wouldn’t be as effective if they didn't strengthen their core!

Exactly, so now I exercise the way I write poetry. And it’s all circular of course. I exercise not to minimize moi wine belly but to write non-flabby poems (jest came up with that so don’t hold back on the applause).

And because my new best friend Julio was interested, I handed him a NOTE BENE EISWEIN on the way out as examples of what I was blathering about when I should have been exercising. I said the first half of poems could be nonsense unless you felt an emotional connection. The second half, the flamenco poems, was about being flamenco versus writing about flamenco -- the core, there, being the it-ness, rather than the being-about-itness... Yes, I know: it's amazing his eyes didn't roll out of his head: that's why he's my new best friend--Julio!

Anyway, this is all a faux prelude to another update to my Recently Relished W(h)ine List below. In the Publications section, note that if you see an asterisk before the title, that means a review copy is available for Galatea Resurrects! More info on that HERE.

OLD WAYS TO FOLD NEW PAPER, poems by Leza Lowitz (fabulous, especially as a debut collection)

* OBEDIENCE, poems by Chris Vitiello

* SANCTA, book-length poem by Andrew Grace

* PHYLLA OF JOY, poems by Karen An-Hwei Lee

MY LOVE IS A DEAD ARCTIC EXPLORER, poems by Paige Ackerson-Kiely

* ENIGMA AND LIGHT, poems by David Mutschlecner

SLOT, poems by Jill Magi

* WHEN WE EXPECT TO SEE YOU SOON, poems by Michael Ford

IF NOTHING ELSE, poems by Harold Bowes

NDAKINNA: OUR LAND, poems by Joseph Bruchac

TRANSFER, poems by Naomi Shihab Nye

YELLOW FIELD (September 2011), Curated by Edric Mesmer (fabulous—especially the essay by Rachel Blau DuPlessis about Robert Creeley helping her off the stage during an H.D. conference versus Allen Ginsberg’s boorish “Get on with it…!”)

WHEN THE MEADOWLARK SINGS: THE STORY OF A MONTANA FAMILY, biography by Nedra Sterry

PRIVATE SECTOR, novel by Brian Haig

THE HIDDEN MAN, novel by David Ellis

BREACH OF TRUST, novel by David Ellis

KILL SHOT, novel by Vince Flynn (his latest. still a good read but not as good as his others)

RAIN FALL, novel by Barry Eisler (Kudos to this author for having created a fictional universe real enough to support a series of ongoing books. Plus, he knows his wines...!)

Friday, February 17, 2012

CELEBRATING BASIL KING!

I'm pleased to be part of this, and encourage moi Peeps as well to participate!

Basil's Arc: The Paintings and Poetics of Basil King

We, The Friends of Basil King, have organized to call attention to Basil’s amazing work straddling two major creative forms – painting and poetry. While his books and public readings have garnered praise and attention, the vast majority of his visual work has never been publically available.

We have commissioned a film, Basil King: Mirage, by Nicole Peyrafitte and Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, to depict the intimacy between writing and painting in his work, with special attention to his visual art. Here is a one-minute trailer:

This film will premiere as part of “Basil’s Arc – The Paintings and Poetics of Basil King,” celebrating his achievements. We'll have talks and performances along with the film -- on September 22, 2012, in New York City.

We have already raised half the funds needed to complete the film and host the event! We need $7,000 to complete the project.

Please join with us in creating a memorable introduction to what George Quasha called “a self-contained civilization waiting for visitors.” TO DONATE BY CREDIT CARD OR PAY PAL ACCOUNT click this link and use the DONATE button.

Lunar Chandelier, Kim Lyon's small press, is hosting the online donations. If you prefer to SEND A CHECK, make it out to Kimberly Lyons, with "Basil's Arc" on the memo line. Mail to Kim c/o V. Bakaitis, 323 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Even small gifts will help get us there.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

POETRY IS DIRECTING THE TRAFFIC

...was amused recently to see an article lauding a poet-art critic for his writings about so-called "unfinished" paintings. Said poet-art critic apparent was able to categorize artists together in such category, including perhaps some artists who otherwise would be (aesthetically) unrelated. This is a Peep who, as a poet, developed his own craft while "open-ended" poems were becoming the rage (so to speak, poetry of course is never really a rage...).

While I don't know which is chicken and egg -- whether 'twas the observations on contemporary (latter 20th century) art that influenced the poetry-writing or vice versa -- it's certainly possible that it was the writing of deliberately non-conclusive poems that guided the eye towards looking at paintings, rather than that the paintings themselves presented themselves unmediated by that poetry influence.

Not a criticism of the Peep, of course (is there really such a thing as an unmediated experience?). But am amused to see .... Poetry directing the traffic. Such a mischievous traffic cop, this Puw-etry...

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

ISN'T XE LOVELY...!

Moi next book, the relational elations of ORPHANED ALGEBRA, a collaboration with j/j hastain, is purty unique because the collaboration is rooted in a series of poems I wrote on orphans but ends up being a discourse on births and new language. That description doesn't really do it justice -- for more, just glean what you can from the blurbs from Marthe Reed and Susan Schultz. I will say that j/j's essay on "Trans/ Genderqueer (both in terms of physiology as well as text)"--hence the pronoun, "Xe"--is pretty groundbreaking and I'm blessed j/j considered my poems relevant to such an approach.

So it's forthcoming this Spring (soon!) from Marsh Hawk Press -- and I want to share the cover!!

Barry Schwabsky is a regular contributor to The Nation and ArtForum and has edited several books of art criticism, including Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting. He is the author of several books of poetry, including Opera: Poems 1981-2002 (Meritage Press, 2003) and Book Left Open in the Rain (Black Square Editions, 2009).

Sunday, February 05, 2012

“A WAFFLE LIVES IN THE UNIVERSE”

A good poet tries to pay attention (the best often--not always, but often--pay attention to everything)—and I love poems that show attention, like the line that titles this post. To wit, here’s another update to my Recently Relished W(h)ine List below. In the Publications section, note that if you see an asterisk before the title, that means a review copy is available for Galatea Resurrects! More info on that HERE.

PUBLICATIONSSOME MATH, poems by Bill Luoma (the funniest “sound poems” I’ve ever experienced. Like, from “The Concept of Math”: A waffle lives in the universe / like your ass in juicy velour. / What determines your ass you ask? / The construction of the bevatron in Berkeley. Or, from “Some Math”: The naughties of quaranta / of the tenera of rapit2a / of his vostra Zed il donkey / the one of localizzo of riflessione I gave convolusis / I gave them a cut of the dulie.)

HAVE, poems by Marc Gaba (the attention to the poetic line is so evident and well-wrought it became inspirational)

CALLED FOR YOU, poems by Kate Greenstreet

* VISION OF THE RETURN, poems by Amin Khan, Translated by Dawn-Michelle Baude

* MESSAGES: POEMS & INTERVIEW by Piotr Gwiazda

* LONG PAST THE PRESENCE OF COMMON, poems by j/j/ hastain

* QUEER PHYLACTERY, poems by j/j hastain

* NEW FORMS AND MEDITATIONS FOR THE PRESSURIZED LIBERTINE MONK, poems by j/j hastain

THE HUDSON LINE, poems by Margo Taft Stever

* BANANA MAGNET, poems by Christopher William Purdom

THE APPLE THAT ASTONISHED PARIS, poems by Billy Collins (this version contained a “new foreword,” which ended up being my favorite part of the book for talking about the period when he was a newbie poet and met people who encouraged him)

PERSPECTIVES ON A GRAFTED TREE: THOUGHTS FOR THOSE TOUCHED BY ADOPTION, poetry anthology edited by Patricia Irwin Johnston

CASTLES IN THE AIR: THE RESTORATION ADVENTURES OF TWO YOUNG OPTIMISTS AND A CRUMBLING OLD MANSION by Judy Corbett

HOMESTEADING: A MONTANA FAMILY ALBUM, memoir by Percy Wollaston

RISING IN THE WEST: THE TRUE STOFY OF AN "OKIE" FAMILY FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION THROUGH THE REAGAN YEARS by Dan Morgan

OUT OF MANY, ONE FAMILY: HOW TWO ADULTS CLAIMED TWELVE CHILDREN THROUGH ADOPTION, memoir by Claudia Fletcher

SECRET THOUGHTS OF AN ADOPTIVE MOTHER by Jana Wolff

IMPATIENT WITH DESIRE, novel by Gabrielle Burton (this is a novel about the Donner party, which interests me partly because the original gate to my house marks the original entrance for those going from California to save the remains of the Donner party. The book is a poetic fictionalized account of what happened while the Donner and other families waited for rescue. Didn’t like the treatment—it’s a testament to how poeticizing fails...)

THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN, novel by Garth Stein (simply fabulous!)

LIFE SENTENCE, novel by David Ellis

SECRET SANCTION, novel by Brian Haig (new to me in thriller genre, though he’s been around for a while. I am swiftly plowing through all of his books—love his character Sean Drummond, a killer-wiseass (no pun intended). Yes, he’s a West Point grad who also was son of Alexander Haig)

Friday, February 03, 2012

SCULPTING TO REPRODUCE EMPTINESS

Recently, (at least) three things converged unexpectedly to generate what looks to be a new poetry manuscript: some recent personal turmoil resulting in Loss, Marc Gaba's inaugural poetry collection HAVE that made me reconsider poetic line and (or, versus) the prose poem paragraph, and a weariness with the message-ridden form of poems I'd been writing as I explored the subject of orphans.

I was delighted, by the way, to see Tupelo Press publish Marc Gaba's HAVE. I'd been aware of this poet's writings and am pleased to see him get attention for his, among other things, tensile minimalism. In HAVE, the attention to the poetic line is so evident that reading through this collection was the final impetus – there were earlier ones which I never acted on until now – to create poems by annotating Reproductions of the Empty Flagpole. This was my first U.S. book which, by being all prose poems, had always contained (I thought) wonderful phrases that could be recontextualized into new poems if they were chipped out, a la sculpting, out of their prose blocks.

Annotation is not, of course, a new poetic technique though I again stress that I wasn't focused so much on textual inspiration as pretending to be Michelangelo. To illustrate, here's a photo of my poem "The Chase" from the book--the green highlights depict phrases that I used as raw material for a new poem entitled "(The Chase". The difference in the title is the insertion of an open parenthesis mark without the close parenthesis, signifying the poem's open-endedness.

"(The Chase" and other such poems sculpted out of the poems in Reproductions of the Empty Flagpole will form a new manuscript entitled

Reproductions of the reproductions of the empty

Emptiness here is partly the opposite of message-bearing. I had nothing in mind to say when I sculpted these new poems -- I was simply relying on what was already written in Reproductions of the Empty Flagpole. The emptiness also relates to Loss; and I just realized that this new manuscript actually bears the opposite sensibility to what underpinned Reproductions of the Empty Flagpole, which was Desire.

Without going into details, my recent personal loss certainly was the negation of Desire.

Anyway, you can compare the six prose paragraphs in the original poem "The Chase" with newly-sculpted poem "(The Chase" comprised of 18 thin stanzas which has just been published in that fabulous poetic space curated by Halvard Johnson, On Barcelona. It's in great company -- do check out the other poems (I most recently enjoyed Ric Carfagna's!). Not only do my two poems look different but they really are different in content, as different as Loss vs. Desire.

EGG'S GOT LEGGGSSS!!!

Kidding, she chuckles. That sentence is indeed in the deeply intellectual review but perhaps here's one that does elucidate:

Tabios has performed what many would call an act of “shrinklit.” Those who don’t like to take the time to wade through a 350-page tome but want to have an aesthetic experience that includes some of the same ingredients will appreciate her consideration,...

I am considerate, indeed. Also a selective cutnpaste-r. That above excerpt continues on to say, "whereas those who believe that protracted immersion is a central component of novel-reading will not."

Fie. I can go Russian-long if I want to. I am the author, after all, of BRICK and SON-OF-A-BRICK! Anyhoo, I digress: do go read the review and if you go to the end, why, you will find out, Dear Reader, that you are a Writer, too!

Now, don't y'all want to know what peeps are talking about? Of course you do! Condition-precedent, though, would be to acquire those eggs. How-Tos and Where-Tos available HERE! Not to mention how they'd be a great source of protein!

Karla Linn Merrifield("I make a last call for action / on Facebook and LinkedIn: Submit now . // Time is of the essence to the movement / as time always is. I channel // Ginsberg to howl, Ferlinghetti to roller- / coaster us into archetypal dream. // I implore Snyder to bow / from his mountainside, embracing // us in spirit in these pages. / We shall Occupy the Universe ...")

David S. Pointer("The current recession just drives home to me that most Americans don't know what happened to political poetry.")

JP Reese("I have never written more poetry or with as much power as I have in the last two years. The acceptance of possibly losing just about everything in the material world has concentrated my vision.")

Sarah Sarai("When a Wedgwood saucer is held to light / to see its roses bloom, a foreclosure gets its wings.")

Ray Sharp("If corporations are people / and loves are lives that are born and die, / we were downgraded to junk bond status / ... / I gave you 99 percent of my heart, / more than I could afford, and still / we ended up bankrupt.")

Hal Sirowitz("It doesn’t cost much to be creative. Ted Berrigan said if you’re a writer and the choice is between buying a book or a meal, always go for the book.")